Depraved Hero's Path: Enslaved Monster Girl Harem In The Apocalypse!-Chapter 45: Undying Archives of Old: Choosing Paths

[Entering Special Event Dungeon: "Undying Archives of Old"]

[The past lies buried and forgotten, but not gone.]

[History sleeps within these halls, until you wake it.]

[A New Era rises from the ashes.]

[The New World looms, but echoes of the Old still whisper.]

[Seize the Relics of the Old World, and bend them to your will.]

"Sounds good to me."

"Cryptic." Léa commented, adjusting her glasses.

"Everything seems relatively normal." Katherine whispered as she looked around.

"History sleeps until you wake it..." Marianne muttered. "As in the Relics that we need to bend to our will."

"Hm." Léa nodded. "A New Era rises from the ashes is about the Apocalypse, the ashes of yesterday's World, and the World of tomorrow, which involves Monsters, Magic..."

"Echoes of the Old still whisper..." Katherine frowned slightly. "I'm getting goosebumps. I don't like this one."

"Buried and forgotten." Marianne thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I couldn't name a piece exposed in this museum for my life."

Elijah stretched his arms up, feeling, just like Katherine, goosebumps. Although they were of a different kind.

"Undying Archives of Old." He whispered with a grin. "The Archives that store what we have about the Old World. Undying is interesting. Wonder if it'll be a night at the museum situation."

"Oh," Katherine exclaimed, the tip of her index finger on her chin. "I loved that movie when I was younger."

"I think I've heard of it...?"

"Never heard of it." Marianne said plainly, shaking her head.

"The exposed pieces come to life, basically." Elijah explained with a shrug before walking forward.

"Geh! You mean we're going to fight dinosaurs and all?"

"Maybe." Katherine pressed her lips together and followed Elijah.

"That's kind of exciting." Léa muttered.

"Huh... Wait, are the mummies coming back to life as well?!"

"You tell us." Elijah said as he turned around for a moment. "What do you see?"

Marianne frowned before scratching her head.

"Nothing." She sighed, and followed them.

***

"This is where you would take or show your tickets." Katherine pointed.

The moment that they made it there, more System messages appeared.

[To bend the Relics of the Old, you just prove worthy.]

[Choose your Relic, and bend it to your will.]

[A Party has been detected.]

[Each member of the Party will need to choose a different Path.]

The next moment, the directional signs lit up.

"Hm..." Katherine stared at those signs. "Ancient History, Natural History, Art, Folklore and Mythologies..."

"I don't particularly like this." Elijah muttered.

[Two members of the same Party cannot take the same Path.]

[The Games will begin once you choose the Relic you wish to challenge.]

His gaze went to the first exhibited item. It was exposed right below the directional signs.

A mask made from carved wood, stained with dark oils and age.

[Your "Eyes of Truth[A]" Skill is Activating!]

[Akajou Ritual Mask: The Akajou Ritual Mask was believed to act as a conduit between the physical and spirit worlds. It was used during rituals by ancient tribes to connect with the Dead and hear their warnings. It was to be worn by a descendant of the Dead, allowing the Dead to possess the mask and the descendant wearing it temporarily.]

[Game Rank: D.]

"That one shouldn't be so tough." Katherine said as she pointed at the mask.

"Why do you say that?" Léa asked.

"Yes... I can feel it too." Marianne nodded. "There's Mana in there, right?"

"Hm." Katherine nodded.

"You can tell the Difficulty of each game based on how much Mana it holds." Elijah scratched his chin. 'That helps. In that case, parting ways for a bit shouldn't be a problem.'

Marianne tried to focus harder on the Mask, using her Mana Sense Skill.

"I don't like that we have to separate, but it's good to know we can choose the Difficulty." Katherine whispered.

"Yeah. We don't have much more to go off of." Elijah tapped the wall. "Marianne, you'll go with Léa."

"Huh?" Marianne's eyebrow rose for a moment. "Oh, right. Good for you, Léa. You get a guide."

"What do you think?" Elijah asked, standing next to Katherine.

"I remember really liking some of the paintings here."

"Art then, huh?"

"I can choose whatever, right?" Katherine asked.

"Yep. Whatever you like." Elijah whispered in her direction. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Hm." Katherine nodded and took a deep breath in. "I guess I'll go first, since I'm the oldest." She said as she took a step forward.

"You don't know how old I am." Elijah muttered.

"Please." She chuckled, and followed the directional sign.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

To the Arts Exhibit!

"What about you?" He asked.

Léa scratched her chin for a moment.

"Natural History." She answered. "With my lack of strength, anything magical would be a problem. Having an extinct creature come back to life would be doable for me though." Léa nodded.

"Good choice, I suppose." He shrugged. "What about you, Marianne?"

"Which one do you think I should go for?" She asked.

"I have no idea."

Marianne scratched her elbow for a moment, her gaze rising to the ceiling.

"Folklore and Mythologies."

"Then I'll take Ancient History."

"You wanted Folklore and Mythologies?"

"I wanted us to, at least, have those two. You made a good choice."

"Right..." Marianne muttered. "Let's get going." She said, tapping Léa's shoulder. "I'll help you choose. Just because they're representations of extinct species doesn't necessarily mean that the Quest will be to defeat a revived version of it."

"Yes, but it's probably the case, right?"

"Still, I'll check them for you. Anything with more Mana than the Goblin Chief would be trouble for you."

"R-Right..."

Marianne accompanied Léa to the Gallery of Natural History.

Elijah remained standing in front of the Akajou Mask for a little bit.

"You're coming with me." He said without turning around.

"I thought that Party-play wasn't allowed." Zarath sighed. "Forcing me to stay thirty steps away at all times is really mean, you know?"

"That only applies to those who can participate in the Games. I assume you can't, right?"

Zarath scratched her head.

"I would have to try to know for sure, though it's unlikely. I hate places like these in the first place."

"Places like these?"

"Yeah. It reeks of the same person's Mana." Zarath waved her hand in front of her nose, disgusted by the smell. "Someone imbued their Mana into these."

"Well, well..."

"Don't you want the others to be here while I talk about this?" Zarath asked, scratching her head.

"No, it's fine." Elijah said with a smile, putting his arm around the Succubus's shoulder. "They don't want you here, so they don't get the information."

Zarath blushed as she pressed her lips together.

The two started walking.

"W-Well, in that case..."

To the Gallery of Ancient History!